NFC mobile coupon firm Coupies gears up for expansion

The German mobile couponing firm Coupies has pulled in a seven-figure wad of funding, which it hopes to use for international expansion.

The money comes from CologneInvest and constitutes Coupies’s first proper investment round, which is impressive considering it’s a 10-person operation that already has a reach of three million users.

Coupies is one of the first mobile couponing companies to embrace near-field communications (NFC), the short-range wireless tech that’s built into millions of smartcards, bank cards, and increasingly phones. Apple (s AAPL) is yet to go NFC, but Nokia (S NOK), RIM (s RIMM) and a bunch of Android (s GOOG)devices are already there.

Once the user has signed up for Coupies, they can be targeted with deals on a location basis. They get coupons sent to their handset, which they can then redeem at the store.

Coupies supplies retailers with little stickers that they can keep at the…